Hank Gilbert, of Tyler, announces he is running against Congressman Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, as a ‘conservative Democrat’ on Sept. 5, 2019 in Tyler, Texas. (Erin Mansfield/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

An East Texas rancher and businessman who considers himself a conservative Democrat announced Thursday he would challenge U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert in 2020.

Hank Gilbert, 59, of Tyler, is a former high school agriculture teacher and longtime businessman who runs a carpet cleaning and water restoration company in Whitehouse. He ran for Texas agriculture commissioner in 2006 and 2010.

Gilbert said he has been disappointed in Gohmert’s service for years, and the last straw came during the congressional hearings with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who testified about an investigation into alleged ties between Russia and President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Gilbert said Gohmert did not show Mueller, a veteran of the Vietnam War, enough respect for his service. He said the situation bothered him because his brother served in the same war and was not shown enough respect when he returned.

“He came unleashed,” Gilbert said of Gohmert during the hearing. “Pictures that were shown after the fact, he looked like a bulldog. Just, teeth showing, red face, had no respect for the man whatsoever. And the man was a Republican. And he attacked him the way he did.

“That does not represent the values of the people in this district,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know anybody in this district who would have done that. So we’re going to win it with the will of the people.”

Gohmert also penned an extensive opinion piece about his disagreement with Mueller and the Russia investigation. He spoke about the piece and his views at a meeting of Grassroots America-We the People Political Action Committee in April.

Gilbert said he considers himself a conservative Democrat, in the model of the Democratic Party prior to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 signing of the Voting Rights Act, after which the South started its turn to Republican Party dominance.

“When I was growing up … everybody in the South was what you call a conservative Democrat, fiscally conservative, morally conservative, yet compassionate people. A lot of them changed over. I never changed. I’m still a fiscal conservative. I’m still a moral conservative.

“But I’m a Democrat because I believe more along the lines that government should be of the people, by the people, and help the people, rather than more to help the richer among us or the better off among us or the corporations, which is where I think the other party has gone,” he said.

Gilbert announced his campaign at a Tyler gathering place for the International Electric Union-Communication Workers of America 86782 labor union, across from Trane/Ingersoll Rand.

He said his priorities are the economy, education and health care. He is proposing having the government pay for two years of junior college, technical school or a trade-type program.

For people pursuing professions through a four-year degree, he is proposing paying for the first two years. He wants to provide them with zero-interest loans for the remaining two years, and let them start paying off the debt three years after graduation, provided they do a year of public service immediately after graduation.

“I’m not an accountant, but I can tell you that’s not a giveaway,” Gilbert said. “That’s an investment. Because if you stop and think about it, those people are going to come out getting those high-powered jobs.

“What they will pay in taxes in the first 10 years will more than pay for the education we provided for them, and they’ll be productive, taxpaying citizens for the rest of their life,” he said. “That’s an investment in our future.”

Gohmert, 66, was first elected to represent Texas Congressional District 1 in 2004, and has handily won reelection seven times since then. In four elections, his Democratic opponent was Shirley McKellar, who now sits on the Tyler City Council.

District 1 includes Smith, Gregg, Rusk, Upshur, Marion, Harrison, Rusk, Panola, Nacogdoches, Shelby, San Augustine, Sabine and Angelina counties; plus a portion of Cass County.

Gilbert planned two other campaign kickoff events, in Longview and Nacogdoches in the afternoon. He also promised town hall meetings twice a year in each of the district’s 12 counties if he is elected.

The primary is March 3, and the general election is Nov. 3, 2020.

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